This day came. The Japanese government is already ready to release the Pacific Ocean for Fukushima water. It has been 12 years since a magnitude 9 earthquake blew up a nuclear power plant in this Japanese city, releasing much of the radioactive fuel. Soon, maneuvers began to cool the tanks, during which they released tons of radioactive watera, which has survived to this day.
During this time, radioactive water was decontaminated to finally empty the tanks as part of decommissioning plan for the Fukushima power plant. This Thursday, August 24, is the day chosen by the Japanese government for this mission. They, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations and several independent scientists insist that there is nothing to fear. But there are still many resisting populations, including environmental groups such as Greenpeacebefore Chinese governmentwhich has already taken action to ban the importation of fish and shellfish from cities such as Tokyo and Fukushima itself.
Other countries such as South KoreaThey made no explicit bans, but expressed concern. It’s a logical concern, but scientists insist it’s not necessary. How can they be so sure? This is what we know at the moment.
What happened at Fukushima?
He March 11, 2011 A magnitude 9 earthquake shook several Japanese cities, leaving behind 18,000 dead on his trail. Tremors also reached the Fukushima nuclear power plant, where initially everything security mechanisms Right.
Sensors are installed at the facilities, which, in the event of a dangerous earthquake, turn off all nuclear fission reactions. That is, reactions in which energy is released due to the fission of the nuclei of radioactive atoms cease to occur. This prevents something similar to what happened at Chernobyl in 1986.
These nuclear fission reactions don’t just power energy companies. They also serve as self-sufficiency. In other words, electricity is recycled for the proper functioning of the nuclear power plant itself. Therefore they have emergency diesel generatorswhich help keep the cooling system running by preventing overheating radioactive material.
The problem in this case is that as a result of the earthquake, a large tsunami occurred with waves 14 meters high, which they destroyed the generators. This produced such a heating of the radioactive material that, together with the stored energy, it caused nuclear fusion. Something like a small hydrogen bomb.
There was an explosion and a very dangerous release of radioactive material, which required measures to cool the tanks and contain the fuel. In total, they were rescued and cured. 1.3 million contaminated wastewater. And now it’s time to release them.
What did they do with radioactive water?
Fukushima’s radioactive water contained substances such as tritium, carbon-14, strontium-90 and iodine-129.. During all this time, very efficient filtration methods have been used that have eliminated most of these radioactive isotopes. However, tritium, an isotope of hydrogen, it is very difficult to remove completely.
Despite this, there are two reasons why all the aforementioned authorities continue to call for calm. First, tritium doesn’t penetrate human skin, so that wouldn’t be a problem. And, on the other hand, radioactive water, although not completely eliminated, was diluted so much so that its concentration is well below what is considered dangerous.
As for the marine fauna, these scientists also claim that there are no problems here. In fact, the Fukushima government tried raise awareness all the while, videos of fish living in polluted waters were being broadcast.
But the fear is logical. For this reason, they also ensured that during the release of water from Fukushima monitoring the level of radioactivity andin the ocean, and if they are dangerous to humans or marine ecosystems, the process will be completely stopped.
We’ll have news soon, of course. In the meantime, we will have to wait and try to trust the decision of the departments for nuclear energy, which have followed it all these years.
Source: Hiper Textual
